Without Bucky, SunDevils
Survive Scare:The third-seeded Salem SunDevils went into Friday night's Eastern Region Division
6 quarterfinal playoff matchup against the sixth-seeded Grassfield
Grizzlies on upset alert, even well before the game kicked off at 7:30 PM.Among the reasons were the fact Grassfield was making its fifth consecutive postseason
appearance and Salem had some important parts of its attack out due to injury.

Salem played without starting quarterback and Virginia
Tech commit Bucky Hodges, who sat
out with what the coaching staff called a hand contusion.Also out were starting tailback Torron Person as well as starting defensive
backs Torrance Brown and Khalib Brown.The undermanned SunDevils pulled ahead on an Andre Torantouchdown
with 5:04 remaining and held the pesky Grizzlies off, 18-13 to punch their
ticket to the regional semifinals for the third year in a row.

"Looking at this game tonight, I can't say enough about
our kids.We had some adversity tonight.They went out and played hard, and that's
just the type of kids we have here at Salem.At least five starters [were] out and hopefully we'll get those guys
back next week," declared Salem Head Football Coach Robert Jackson.

"I give Coach [Vincent]
Pugh and my defensive staff all the
credit.We knew with Bucky being out we
were especially going to need them tonight."

Salem turned to its defense to preserve the lead late
as Grassfield converted a 4th & 15 with a 43-yard
pass from Blake LaRussato Paris Smith to put the
Grizzlies inside the red zone with under three minutes to play.Anchored by seniors at three levels with
defensive end Rainney Thompson, linebacker and Hokies commit Andrew
Motu'apuakaand cornerback Kwamane Bowens, the SunDevils didn't let Grassfield get any closer than that 14-yard line on its
final possession when the Grizz watched a LaRussa pass in the end zone on fourth down fall
incomplete.

"We all had to make plays.Drew and I were out there telling everybody
to dig deep, it's in our heart.You've
got to have fight.We're seniors and we
have to go out with a bang," stated Bowens, who played a versatile role all
night long.

"There's no I in team for a
reason.Even with Bucky out, we've still
got to correct some things."

That would include penalties.Salem was flagged for 15, costing them 123
yards.A roughing the passer penalty
early in the fourth quarter helped Grassfield get
closer to the end zone, and senior Marcus
Mitchell punched in a touchdown from four yards to give them a 13-12 lead
with 8:45 remaining.

Team

Time (QTR)

Scoring Play (Grassfield
at Salem)

Game Score

SAL

10:35 (2)

Bland
2-yard run, PAT failed

6-0

GHS

3:01 (2)

McKenzie
40-yard punt return, PAT Richardson good

7-6

SAL

10:15 (3)

Bowens 46-yard run,
2-point run failed

12-7

GHS

8:45 (4)

Mitchell 4-yard run,
2-point pass failed

13-12

SAL

5:04 (4)

Toran 1-yard
run, 2-poitn run failed

18-13

Starting in place of Hodges at quarterback was freshman JarrelLightbody, who got moved up from the
J.V. team and completed 8 of 12 passes for 120 yards.

In addition to the injuries and penalties, Salem
overcame losing the turnover battle and giving up a 40-yard punt return for a
touchdown by Grassfield'sTyler McKenzie.But Bowens
and Motu'apuaka helped bail them out.

A standout at receiver who had over 200 yards receiving
in a playoff game a year ago, Bowens caught four balls for 78 yards in the
first half before being moved to Wildcat quarterback, where he rushed for 111
yards and a touchdown on 12 attempts to go with two pass completions - - both
to Motu'apuaka - - for 33 yards.

"I had to go back in my old playbook when Kevin
[Whaley] and them were here," Jackson noted."

With so many bumps and bruises all across its roster,
Salem needed Bowens and Motu'apuaka, who also ran the
ball three times for 10 yards, to do more.They delivered with its season hanging by a thread.

"Bucky went down, our backup after Bucky went down and
our freshman played a good game for us with his first game starting.Everybody felt like they had to step up,
including all the backups," said Motu'apuaka, who did
some blocking on offense on running plays, too.

"I told Swammie (Bowens) to
run right behind me and I've got him.We
had to put the team on our back and come out with the win."